Mayoral elections in Syracuse, New York

Elections are held in Syracuse, New York to election the city's mayor. Currently, these elections are regularly scheduled to be held once every four years, with the elections taking place in the off-year immediately after United States presidential election years.

Elections before 2009

2009

2009 Syracuse mayoral election

← 2005 November 3, 2009 2013 →

Candidate Stephanie Miner Steve Kimatian Otis Jennings Party Democratic Republican Conservative Popular vote 11,237 8,783 2,313 Percentage 50.3% 39.3% 10.4%

Mayor before election Matt Driscoll Democratic Elected Mayor Stephanie Miner Democratic

The 2009 Syracuse mayoral election was held on November 3, 2009. The incumbent mayor, Democrat Matt Driscoll, was term limited. Democrat Stephanie Miner defeated Republican Steve Kimatian, 50%-39%, and Conservative Party of New York candidate Otis Jennings finished a distant 3rd, with 10% of the vote.^[1] Miner became the city's first female leader.^[2]

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Alfonso Davis – Democratic political consultant
• Carmen Harlow – former Syracuse Department of Public Works deputy commissioner
• Stephanie Miner, Syracuse Common Councilor-at-Large^[3]
• Joe Nicoletti – business development consultant, former New York State Assemblyman and Syracuse Common Councilor

Withdrew

• Bethaida González, Syracuse Common Council President. Dropped out of race prior to primary.^[4]

Results

2009 Syracuse Democratic mayoral primary^{[citation needed]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Stephanie Miner	4,040	44.4
	Democratic	Joe Nicoletti	3,240	35.6
	Democratic	Alfonso Davis	1,021	11.2
	Democratic	Carmen Harlow	793	8.7
Majority			800	8.8
Turnout			9,094	100

Republican primary

Candidates

• Otis Jennings
• Steve Kimatian, former general counsel to Newport Television, former regional vice-president of Clear Channel Television, former television personality with Syracuse ABC-affiliate WSYR-TV

Results

Steve Kiatian defeated Otis Jennings. Jennings had carried the endorsement of the local Republican Party organization.^[3]

2009 Syracuse Republican mayoral primary^{[citation needed]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Steve Kimatian	1,645	56.4
	Republican	Otis Jennings	1,271	43.5
Majority			374	12.9
Turnout			2,916	100

Conservative nomination

• Otis Jennings, after receiving an overwhelming endorsement from the Syracuse Republican Party, Jennings lost in the September primary for the Republican nomination.^[3] Days after the primary, he decided to continue campaigning, and received the nomination from the Conservative Party of New York.^[5]

General election

The general election took place on November 3, 2009.

2009 Syracuse mayoral election^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Stephanie Miner	10,904	46.3%
	Working Families	Stephanie Miner	916	3.9%
	Total	Stephanie Miner	11,820	50.2%
	Republican	Steve Kimatian	7,860	33.4%
	Independence	Steve Kimatian	1,377	5.8%
	Total	Steve Kimatian	9,237	39.2%
	Conservative	Otis Jennings	2,448	10.4%
		Write-ins	55	0.2%
Majority			2,583	11%
Turnout			23,560	100%

2013

2013 Syracuse mayoral election

← 2009 November 5, 2013 2017 →

Candidate Stephanie Miner Ian Hunter Kevin Bott Party Democratic Conservative Green Popular vote 11,000 2,489 2,405 Percentage 68.13% 15.42% 14.90%

Mayor before election Stephanie Miner Democratic Elected Mayor Stephanie Miner Democratic

The 2013 Syracuse mayoral election was held on November 5, 2013, in Syracuse, New York. The incumbent mayor, Democrat Stephanie Miner, ran for re-election. She defeated Conservative candidate Ian Hunter and Green Party candidate Kevin Bott, winning 68% of the vote.^[7][8] The Republican Party did not field a candidate in this election, the first time in over a century that a Syracuse mayor ran unopposed by a major party candidate.^[9]

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Stephanie Miner – incumbent mayor^[10]
• Alfonso Davis – political consultant and candidate in the 2009 mayoral election^[11]
• Patrick Hogan – member of the Common Council^[12]

Results

2013 Syracuse Democratic mayoral primary^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Stephanie Miner (incumbent)	3,860	54.04%
	Democratic	Patrick Hogan	2,047	28.66%
	Democratic	Alfonso Davis	1,221	17.09%
		Write-ins	15	0.21%
Majority			1,813	25.38%
Turnout			7,143	100%

Other nominations

Conservative

• Ian Hunter – project manager

Hunter collected signatures to run on the Republican line but was kept off of the ballot by the efforts of the Onondaga Republican Party chairman.^[14]

Green

• Kevin Bott – non-profit director^[15]

General election results

The general election took place on November 5, 2013.

2013 Syracuse mayoral election^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Stephanie Miner (incumbent)	9,805	60.73%
	Independence	Stephanie Miner (incumbent)	617	3.82%
	Working Families	Stephanie Miner (incumbent)	578	3.58%
	Total	Stephanie Miner (incumbent)	11,000	68.13%
	Conservative	Ian Hunter	2,489	15.42%
	Green	Kevin Bott	2,405	14.90%
		Write-ins	252	1.56%
Majority			8,511	52.71%
Turnout			16,146	100%

2017

2017 Syracuse mayoral election

← 2013 November 7, 2017 2021 →

Candidate Ben Walsh Juanita Perez Williams Party Independence Democratic Popular vote 13,584 9,701 Percentage 53.21% 38.00%

Mayor before election Stephanie Miner Democratic Elected Mayor Ben Walsh Independent

The 2017 mayoral election in Syracuse, New York was held on November 7, 2017, and resulted in the election of Ben Walsh, an independent, to his first term as mayor.^[17]

Background

Incumbent mayor Stephanie Miner, a member of the Democratic Party, was first elected in 2009 and was re-elected in 2013, but was term limited in 2017.^[18][19] Syracuse last elected a Republican Party mayor in 1997, and in the 2013 election Republicans did not field a candidate.^[20]

Democratic primary

2017 Syracuse Democratic mayoral primary^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Juanita Perez Williams	4,421	51.72%
	Democratic	Joe Nicoletti	2,958	34.60%
	Democratic	Martin Masterpole	828	9.69%
		Write-ins	341	3.99%
Total votes			8,548	100%

General election

Five candidates appeared on the general election ballot: Green Party nominee Howie Hawkins, who had run for office 20 times since 1991; Democratic Party nominee Juanita Perez Williams, the city's former corporation counsel; Independence Party, Reform Party and Upstate Jobs Party nominee Ben Walsh, a business development director and the son of U.S. Representative James T. Walsh; Republican nominee Laura Lavine, a former Lafayette School District superintendent; and Working Families Party nominee Joe Nicoletti, who remained on the Working Families party line after unsuccessfully seeking the Democratic nomination and did not campaign.^{[20][22][23][24][25][26]} City auditor Martin Masterpole also sought the Democratic nomination.^[27]

2017 Syracuse mayoral election^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independence	Ben Walsh	12,351	48.38%
	Reform/Upstate Jobs	Ben Walsh	1,233	4.83%
	Total	Ben Walsh	13,584	53.21%
	Democratic	Juanita Perez Williams	9,701	38.00%
	Green	Howie Hawkins	1,017	4.02%
	Republican	Laura B. Lavine	673	2.64%
	Working Families	Joe Nicoletti	305	1.19%
		Write-ins	25	0.10%
Total votes			25,555	100%
	Independence gain from Democratic

2021

2021 Syracuse mayoral election

← 2017 November 2, 2021 2025 →

Candidate Ben Walsh Khalid Bey Janet Burman Party Independent Democratic Republican Alliance Independence Conservative Popular vote 10,987 4,923 2,144 Percentage 61% 27% 11.84%

Mayor before election Ben Walsh Independent Elected Mayor Ben Walsh Independent

See also: 2021 New York state elections

The Syracuse mayoral election of 2021 was held November 2, 2021. Incumbent Independent mayor Ben Walsh was seeking re-election to a second term in office.^[29] The local committees of the Democratic, Republican, Conservative, and Working Families parties each endorsed a candidate, however the candidates who did not receive their party's endorsement could force a primary if they wished.^[30][31][32]

Background

In 2017, incumbent Democratic mayor Stephanie Miner was term limited and could not seek reelection. Ben Walsh won the race to succeed her, defeating Democrat Juanita Perez Williams.^[33] Walsh comes from a family of Republican politicians. He is the son of Jim Walsh, former U.S. Representative from New York's 25th congressional district, and the grandson of William Walsh, former U.S. representative from New York's 33rd congressional district and former Mayor of Syracuse.^[34] However, Walsh himself is registered as an Independent, and was the first Independent elected mayor of Syracuse in 104 years.^[33] Walsh ran on three ballot lines: Independence, Reform, and a new line that he created for himself, Upstate Jobs. When Walsh confirmed that he would seek re-election, he did not clarify which lines he would campaign under.^[29]

Whichever lines he pursues, he will face an uphill battle to get on the ballot, due to several developments since 2017. First, the Reform Party lost automatic ballot access in 2018 after failing to surpass 50,000 votes in that year's gubernatorial election.^[35] Then in November 2020, New York increased the cutoff for automatic ballot access. Previously, political parties only needed to gain at least 50,000 votes on their ballot line in a statewide election every four years in order to maintain automatic ballot access. But under the new rules, parties must at least gain either 130,000 votes or 2% of the total, whichever is higher. In addition, they must meet this threshold every two years. As a result of the increased restrictions, the Independence Party also lost its automatic ballot access after the 2020 presidential election. Parties who fail to meet the requirement can still get on the ballot via petition, but this is significantly more difficult, especially for minor parties.^[36][37]

Walsh sought the endorsement of the Working Families Party, one of four parties that surpassed the threshold for automatic ballot access in the 2020 presidential election (the other three are the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, and the Conservative Party), but did not receive it.^[32][38][39] He has received the nomination of the Independence Party, but will need to collect 1,500 signatures in order to ensure that the Independence line will be on the 2021 ballot.^[40][41] If Walsh cannot collect enough signatures to qualify the Independence Party for the ballot, he will need to run a write-in campaign.^[40] On May 25, 2021, Walsh submitted 2,538 signatures to create a dedicated party ballot line.^[42]

Democratic primary

The Onondaga County Democratic Committee endorsed Greene on February 17, 2021. 58% of the committee's members voted for Greene, while 42% voted for Bey. However, Bey chose to continue his candidacy and force a primary.^[43][44][45] In order to qualify for the primary ballot on June 22, Bey and Greene must collect 300 signatures from registered Democrats.^[46]

Candidates

Declared

• Khalid Bey, President pro tempore of the Syracuse common council^[47][48]
• Michael Greene, at-large common councilor (endorsed by committee)^[49][43][44]

Declined

• Yusuf Abdul-Qadir, director of the New York Civil Liberties Union^[49]
• Latoya Allen, common councillor (endorsed Bey)^[50][51]
• Patrick Hogan, common councillor (endorsed Bey)^[50][52]
• Marty Masterpole, Onondaga County Comptroller, former Syracuse City Auditor, and candidate for mayor in 2017^[49][53]
• Tim Rudd, director of the Syracuse Office of Management and Budget and former at-large common councillor^[49][54]

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of May 21, 2021
Candidate	Total raised
Khalid Bey	$25,716
Michael Greene	$87,470
^[55]

Results

Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Khalid Bey	2,720	49.9%
	Democratic	Michael Greene	2,674	49.0%
	Write-in		62	1.1%
Total votes			5,456	100.0%

Republican primary

The Syracuse Republican Committee endorsed Burman as its mayoral candidate on January 21.^[30] However, despite receiving her party's endorsement, Burman did not officially declare her candidacy until March 10. Babilon entered the race on March 1, declaring his intent to force a primary against Burman. The primary will be held on June 22.^[56][57]

Candidates

Declared

• Thomas Babilon, attorney, former member of the Syracuse corporation counsel, and Libertarian candidate for the Syracuse common council in 2019^[56]
• Janet Burman, economist, former chair of the Syracuse Republican Committee and the Onondaga County Republican Party, and nominee for District 53 of the New York Senate in 2018 (endorsed by committee)^[30][31][57]

Declined

• Ben Walsh, incumbent mayor^[a][40]

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of May 21, 2021
Candidate	Total raised
Thomas Babilon	$7,555
Janet Burman	$6,903
^[55]

Results

Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Janet Burman	499	66.6%
	Republican	Thomas Babilon	235	31.4%
	Write-in		15	2.0%
Total votes			749	100.0%

Conservative endorsement

The Conservative Party endorsed Burman as its mayoral candidate.^[56]

Endorsed candidate

• Janet Burman, economist, former chair of the Syracuse Republican Committee and the Onondaga County Republican Party, and nominee for District 53 of the New York Senate in 2018^{[b][30][31][56]}

Nominees/endorsements of parties without automatic ballot access

Independence Party

The Independence Party endorsed Walsh as its mayoral candidate on February 24. Because the party lost automatic ballot access in the 2020 presidential election, Walsh needed to collect 1,500 signatures in order to create an Independence line on the 2021 ballot.^[40] On May 25, 2021, Walsh submitted 2,538 signatures to create a dedicated party ballot line.^[42]

Endorsed candidate

• Ben Walsh, incumbent mayor^[a][40]

Working Families endorsement

The Syracuse Working Families Committee chose not to endorse any candidate in the mayoral election, meaning that its ballot line would go unfilled.^[39]

Endorsed candidate

• None^[39]

Not endorsed

• Khalid Bey, President pro tempore of the Syracuse common council^{[c][47][48][32][49]}
• Michael Greene, at-large common councillor^[c][49][32]
• Ben Walsh, incumbent mayor^[a][29][32]

General election

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of July 19, 2021
Candidate (party)	Total raised
Ben Walsh (I)	$277,108
Khalid Bey (D)	$36,379
Janet Burman (R)	$8,657
^[58]

Results

2021 Syracuse Mayoral Election^[59]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independence	Ben Walsh (incumbent)	12,013	59.6%
	Democratic	Khalid Bey	5,520	27.4%
	Republican	Janet Burman	1,786	8.9%
	Conservative	Janet Burman	567	2.8%
	Total	Janet Burman	2,353	11.7%
	Write-in		57	0.3%
Total votes			20,163	100%

Campaign websites

• Michael Greene (D) for Mayor
• Ben Walsh (I) for Mayor

Notes

1. Candidate is an Independent, but can still receive any party's nomination thanks to New York's electoral fusion system.
2. Candidate is a member of the Republican Party, but can still seek any party's nomination thanks to New York's electoral fusion system.
3. Candidate is a member of the Democratic Party, but can still seek any party's nomination thanks to New York's electoral fusion system.

References

1. Vote 2009 Results – 9wsyr.com 2009-11-04 at the Wayback Machine
2. Syracuse elects Miner as next mayor; she becomes City Hall's first woman in top job.
3. . Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved November 1, 2009.
4. Bea Gonzalez Drops out of mayoral race – Syracuse.com
5. Jennings Continues Bid for Syracuse Mayor – News10Now.com
6. "2009 Onondaga County Election" (PDF).
7. "Three out of four Syracuse voters stayed home". syracuse. November 6, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
8. "Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner wins election to a second term". syracuse. November 6, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
9. "Republicans give Syracuse Mayor Miner free pass in November election". syracuse. September 16, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
10. "Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner calls on collective toughness of city in campaign kickoff". syracuse. January 16, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
11. "Alfonso Davis, once a 'kid from the projects,' runs for Syracuse mayor". syracuse. August 18, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
12. "Syracuse Councilor Pat Hogan to announce he's running for mayor". syracuse. May 31, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
13. "2013 Onondaga County Primary Election" (PDF).
14. "Live chat: Ask Ian Hunter about his Conservative Party race for Syracuse mayor". syracuse. September 19, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
15. "Green Party's Kevin Bott kicks off campaign for Syracuse mayor Wednesday". syracuse. September 9, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
16. "2013 Onondaga County General Election" (PDF).
17. McMahon, Julie (November 8, 2017). "Ben Walsh elected Syracuse mayor". Syracuse.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
18. Breidenbach, Michelle (November 5, 2013). "Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner wins election to a second term". Syracuse.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
19. Weiner, Mark (June 18, 2018). "Stephanie Miner to run for NY governor as independent". Syracuse.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
20. Carlson, Chris (November 8, 2017). "GOP, Laura Lavine laugh off one of their worst Syracuse mayoral showings in history". Syracuse.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
21. "The Election Book: Onondaga County Board of Elections, 2017 Primary Election" (PDF). Onondaga County, New York. September 26, 2017. pp. 1–2.
22. Mulder, James T. (September 13, 2017). "Here's the ballot for the 2017 Syracuse mayoral race". Syracuse.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
23. Baker, Chris (April 21, 2017). "Green Party's Howie Hawkins will make his third run for Syracuse mayor". Syracuse.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
24. McMahon, Julie (September 13, 2017). "Joe Nicoletti loses 3rd primary for Syracuse mayor, won't say if he'll run down-ballot". Syracuse.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
25. Baker, Chris (November 18, 2016). "Ben Walsh is running for mayor of Syracuse, but with which party?". Syracuse.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
26. Baker, Chris (September 16, 2017). "Who is Juanita Perez Williams? Syracuse mayoral hopeful thrives on proving naysayers wrong". Syracuse.com. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
27. Baker, Chris (January 27, 2017). "City Auditor Marty Masterpole, a Democrat, enters race for Syracuse mayor". Syracuse.com. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
28. (PDF). Onondaga County, New York. December 18, 2017. pp. 57–60. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2018.
29. "Ben Walsh to seek reelection in 2021: 'I'm going to need 6 more years'". syracuse. March 6, 2020.
30. "Republicans pick candidate to run for mayor: 'Syracuse is sinking into a pit of garbage'". syracuse. January 22, 2021.
31. "Who are the candidates for Syracuse Mayor?". January 25, 2021.
32. "Walsh walks tight rope on wealth tax while wooing Working Families Party". syracuse. February 16, 2021.
33. "Ben Walsh elected Syracuse mayor". syracuse. November 8, 2017.
34. "Ben Walsh is running for mayor of Syracuse, but with which party?". syracuse. November 19, 2016.
35. "Some third parties see victory in defeat". City & State NY. November 16, 2018.
36. "Suffolk Closeup: Elections have consequences". Shelter Island Reporter. December 12, 2020.
37. Geringer-Sameth, Ethan; Max, Ben. "Breaking Down Final 2020 Vote Tallies Across New York City". Gotham Gazette.
38. "Walsh appeals to Working Families Party to get on November's ballot". syracuse. February 3, 2021.
39. "Working Families Party will give its coveted mayoral ballot line to... no one". syracuse. March 11, 2021.
40. "Mayor Ben Walsh announces reelection campaign". The Daily Orange. March 1, 2021.
41. "Today is the official start of campaign season in Syracuse: What does that mean?". syracuse. March 2, 2021.
42. Baker, Chris (May 26, 2021). "Ben Walsh submits 2,500 signatures to create independent line on Syracuse mayoral ballot". Syracuse.com. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
43. Bragg, Meghan (February 17, 2021). "Democrats choose Michael Greene as their 2021 Syracuse mayoral candidate". WSTM.
44. "Syracuse Democrats Endorse Councilor Michael Greene for Mayor". spectrumlocalnews.com.
45. "Syracuse Democrats headed for a two-way primary in mayor's race". syracuse. February 18, 2021.
46. Abbott, Ellen (February 22, 2021). "Two Syracuse lawmakers to face off in Democratic primary for mayor". www.wrvo.org.
47. Chouinard, Kyle; Hassan, Matt (December 11, 2020). "Councilor-at-Large Khalid Bey Announces His Candidacy for 2021 Syracuse Mayoral Race". www.waer.org.
48. "City of Syracuse". www.syrgov.net.
49. "Who is running for Syracuse mayor in 2021? Contenders emerge to challenge Walsh". syracuse. December 8, 2020.
50. "Khalid Bey touts experience as he launches Syracuse mayoral campaign". syracuse. February 19, 2021.
51. "City of Syracuse". www.syrgov.net.
52. "City of Syracuse". www.syrgov.net.
53. "City Auditor Marty Masterpole, a Democrat, enters race for Syracuse mayor". syracuse. January 27, 2017.
54. "Walsh appoints Councilor Tim Rudd, a frequent critic, as budget director". syracuse. September 25, 2020.
55. Kielar, Mary (May 21, 2021). "Syracuse mayor's race: Democrat Michael Greene outraised Khalid Bey more than 3 to 1". WSTM. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
56. "A second Republican emerges in race for Syracuse mayor". syracuse. March 2, 2021.
57. Schiller, Scott Willis, Benjamin (March 10, 2021). "Republican Janet Burman Enters Race For Syracuse Mayor". www.waer.org.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
58. "Syracuse mayor's race: Ben Walsh has 100X more money than both his opponents combined". July 19, 2021.
59. "Ben Walsh, Syracuse's first independent mayor, wins reelection for second term". The NewsHouse. November 3, 2021. Retrieved November 7, 2021.